


Beginning

by Rachel500



Series: The Lost Season [5]
Category: Airwolf
Genre: F/M, Romance, Sexual Content
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2008-10-30
Updated: 2008-10-30
Packaged: 2017-10-19 23:03:52
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,138
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/206172
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Rachel500/pseuds/Rachel500
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Stringfellow Hawke and Caitlin embark on a new relationship...</p>
            </blockquote>





	Beginning

**Author's Note:**

> Airwolf is somebody else's, probably Universal's or Bellisarius', and I freely admit that whoever's it is, I'm borrowing their show and they retain all rights, etc. First published elsewhere 2008.

The scream woke him from a deep sleep and Stringfellow Hawke was off the couch and vaulting up the stairs to the bedroom area before he was aware of his surroundings. Caitlin was kneeling in the middle of the bed with the blankets awry around her. Her face was pale, her eyes blank with shock, a hand was pressed against her shoulder and she was visibly trembling. Tet was on the bed at her side, doing his best in his own doggy way to comfort her.

Hawke halted and approached her slowly as his heartbeat returned to normal. 'Caitlin?'

She raised her eyes to look at him. She attempted a smile. 'I'm sorry I didn't mean to wake you.'

He hovered at the end of the bed. 'Would you like some hot milk?' He asked.

Caitlin nodded. He turned and made his way downstairs. He rubbed his eyes tiredly as he waited for the milk to heat on the stove.

'I really am sorry.'

He looked up and found Caitlin standing barefoot by the breakfast bar.

'Not a problem.' Hawke said as he folded his arms over his naked chest. 'I've had a few nightmares in the past myself.'

Caitlin slid onto a stool. 'I thought I was over the worst of them.' She admitted as she stared down at the bar.

'Have you had many?' Hawke asked gently.

'The milk's boiling.'

Hawke moved to take the pan off the stove and poured it carefully into two mugs stirring them vigorously. He picked them both up and carried them to the coffee table, Caitlin following in his wake.

She sat down on the floor in front of the couch as he added another log to the fire. Tet padded over and pushed himself onto her lap. She stroked his fur coat and let the motion soothe her. Hawke handed her a drink and she noticed with amusement that it was hot chocolate as he sat down beside her. There was silence as he tucked a blanket around them for extra warmth, pushing a disgruntled Tet out of the way. They watched the fire and sipped their drinks.

'I'm running in the nightmare.'

Hawke glanced at her, his heart jerking in surprise before it resumed normal service.

'Always running and I think I'm going to be too late. I can't catch my breath and I fall. And that's when I wake up.' Caitlin said softly. 'Same dream every night since I left the clinic. The doctor thinks my subconscious is trying to tell me what I can't remember.'

'What do you remember?' Hawke asked trying to push another surge of guilt away.

'Not much.' She took a sip of her hot chocolate. 'I remember we were talking by the fire, and the door banged. You told me to stay in the barn while you went to get Byrne. That's it.' She set her mug down. 'Exactly what did happen?'

Hawke winced and looked over at her. He sighed at her expression; under the curiosity was a blatant need to understand and as much as he didn't want to talk about it, maybe it would help her move on from the nightmares. His gaze moved to the fire. 'I figure your early warning scans picked up on the assault team and that Byrne and I had no cover where we were. I think you realised that there was no time to get Airwolf airborne so you took the next option; you ran to warn us.' He gulped some hot chocolate and frowned at the sudden sickly sweet taste. He pushed his mug onto the side table.

'And then?' She gently prompted.

'Someone took a shot just as you reached us and you threw yourself at me. We all hit the ground. I turned around and you weren't moving. You'd knocked your head and then I saw that you'd taken the bullet too. That's it.'

Caitlin saw past his impassive expression and caught the remembered fear. Her hand slid over his and he turned it over to take hold of it, his guarded blue eyes meeting hers.

'I gave you a hell of a scare.' She said.

He nodded. 'When you didn't move I thought…' He looked away from her.

She shifted so her free hand could slide over his rough jaw and turn his face back to her. 'You thought I was dead.'

Hawke slid his hand to stroke over her hair, and under to cup her cheek in his palm. 'You were so still…' The words tumbled out of him…he shook his head as though to shake off the memory.

Caitlin knew nothing she would say would comfort him. She remembered very well another mission when she'd thought he was dead, when he'd lain in her arms unmoving. There was little that could take away the horror or the terror of those moments except maybe...she inched forward and kissed him.

The kiss deepened. It wasn't enough. Hawke forgot everything but the feel of Caitlin, warm and alive. His voice was unsteady when he raised his head and asked if she was sure. She nodded, kissed him again; then there was only the slide of their bodies in the firelight.

It was much later when Hawke scampered to the bed, diving under the covers, his legs immediately tangling with Caitlin's as she slipped back into his arms, her own hugging him close. They held each other in a comfortable silence for a long while until Caitlin shifted a little, easing her shoulder into a better position.

'You OK?' Hawke asked.

She smiled at him and smoothed the worry line that had appeared on his forehead. 'More than OK.'

'You're sure your shoulder is fine?'

She nodded trying to ease the anxiety in his voice and gave in to the question bugging her. 'Is that why you didn't join me before?'

'Before?'

'When I woke up from the nightmare, I seem to recall you were sleeping on the couch.'

Hawke's lips twitched. 'Well, you were asleep when I came in and we hadn't discussed it. I didn't want to assume you'd be fine finding me in bed with you. I figured it might get me punched.' He said dryly, a smile creeping across his lips.

Caitlin smiled again, stroking a hand through his hair. 'Might have gotten you kissed.'

'Kissed, huh?' He was about to follow up on the invitation in her eyes when she unwillingly yawned. He smiled and dropped the kiss chastely on her forehead instead. 'Go to sleep.'

She snuggled into him, giving into the tiredness and drifting back into dreams. Hawke watched her sleep, emotions rippling over him. Disbelief, hope, fear - all bound up in a strange package of joy at this thing they were beginning. She was his. And he couldn't lose her.

fin.


End file.
